Thursday, February 05, 2009

Set in Stone

The attraction of window shopping and people watching sometimes works against the intentions of city planners and architects. When I took all the photographs of the floor in this particular shopping mall in Düsseldorf many passers-by looked at me in astonishment wondering what I was up to. In the Kö Galerie in Königsallee the floor has been adorned with brass plaques commemorating famous people with a Düsseldorf connection. I have never ever seen anybody stop and read what it says on the plaques.

They are spread out in a symmetrical pattern throughout the cross-shaped mall. I do not know the exact number, but I have chosen my Famous Four to show you.

In 1850 Schumann succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Düsseldorf, but he was a poor conductor and quickly aroused the opposition of the musicians.

Clara Josephine Wieck (September 13, 1819 – May 20, 1896) was a German musician, one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, as well as a composer. Her prestige — she became known as "the high priestess of music" — exerted over a 61-year concert career, changed the format and repertoire of the piano concert and the tastes of the listening public. Her husband was composer Robert Schumann. After her marriage she was known as Clara Schumann, however she had achieved considerable fame prior to her marriage, as Clara Wieck.

I was learning about the Schumanns' connection to Dusseldorf only yesterday. I was catching up with some podcasts and listened to the Radio 3's Composer of The Week programme about them broadcast back in December. I liked the story about the choir refusing to let him conduct them!

GW - I think the difference in shine or light is due to the fact that I could not use flash because of the reflection. The light varied with the surrounding shop lights and people getting in the way of it.

Matthew - What a coincidence! Yes, executing music is one thing, and leading/directing it something totally different.